Communication device communication method, and communication terminal device

ABSTRACT

A radio communication CPU controls each section of a radio communication device included in a short distance radio communication network by using network setting information in a network setting storage section. A connection relation with a communication network (for example, the Internet) is set and transmission/reception of data to/from equipment included in the communication network via the short distance radio communication network is controlled. Thus, the network setting or the like for connecting to the Internet or the like is simplified for each portable equipment existing in the short distance radio communication network.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a communication device, a communicationmethod, and a communication terminal device which are suitable for awireless LAN (local area network) system employing, for example, theBluetooth system.

BACKGROUND ART

Recently, in the field of wireless LAN (local area network) system,there has been developed a system which employs the Bluetooth system forcarrying out processing in conformity with the frequency hopping systemusing a radio wave of a band of 2.4 GHz and carrying outtransmission/reception of data between equipments.

The Bluetooth system is a system for realizing ad hoc radio (RF)networking between a plurality of personal computers and devices, whichis being cooperatively developed by corporations of various industriessuch as computers, telecommunication, networking and so on, utilizingthe radio communication technology. The Bluetooth system was planned bythe Bluetooth SIG (Special Interest Group) in which the followingcorporations have taken part: Intel, Ericsson, IBM, Nokia, and Toshiba(trademark registered). The Bluetooth system enables a notebookcomputer, a PDA (personal digital assistant), or a portable telephone toshare information and various services with a personal computer throughradio communications, and makes troublesome cable connectionunnecessary. Such Bluetooth system is disclosed in “Bluetooth (TM)Special Interest Group, Bluetooth specification version 1.0”.

Since the Bluetooth system is designed for ad hoc short distanceconnection, a standard communication range is within 10 m. According tothe Bluetooth system, a “piconet” with the maximum number of connecteddevices equal to 8 and the communication range of 10 m is constructed bycarrying out ad hoc multi-point connection, and a bandwidth of 1 Mbps isshared. In carrying out synchronous communication in accordance with theBluetooth system, a transfer rate of 432.6 Kbps can be realized for bothup communication and down communication, and therefore a rateapproximately 10 times that of ordinary analog connection using a 56 Kmodem can be realized. On the other hand, in asynchronous communicationin accordance with the Bluetooth system, communication at a higher speedis possible, and 721 Kbps for down communication and 57.6 Kbps for upcommunication are realized. Furthermore, the Bluetooth system alsosupports audio communication and enables setting of a maximum of 3synchronous audio channels (at a transfer rate of 64 Kbps) at the sametime. Simultaneous transfer of audio and data can be realized in onechannel which provides a 64-Kbps synchronous audio link and anasynchronous data link. Such Bluetooth system can be used on varioustypes of platforms and can realize radio communication at a low cost.

According to such Bluetooth system, an intelligent mechanism held byPC-based software can be realized in all kinds of electronic equipments.However, to realize practical application of the Bluetooth system, it isnecessary to realize miniaturization and reduction in cost oftransceiver components so as to incorporate them into the currentnotebook personal computers, PDA, portable telephones, portable headsets or the like. Since portable equipments normally use batteries, itis necessary to reduce the dissipation power.

In order to solve these problems, the Bluetooth system employs a systemfor compactly designing all logics and transceiver hardware. Thetransceiver hardware uses a radio frequency in a band of 2.4 GHz thatcan be used without permission and employs a diffusion system based onfrequency hopping in order to prevent wire tapping and interference. Inthis frequency hopping, hopping is carried out 1600 times per second on79 channels obtained by splitting the band every 1 MHZ (2.402 to 2.480GHz). Also, according to the Bluetooth system, data is encrypted anddevices that can access data are limited by password authorization, inorder to improve the security of data transmission.

In a wireless LAN system 1100 employing the Bluetooth system asdescribed above, wireless LAN modules 1110 of the Bluetooth system aremounted on a portable telephone 1101, a personal computer 1102, adigital camera 1103, and a portable information terminal 1104,respectively, as shown in FIG. 31. Thus, the portable telephone 1101,the personal computer 1102, the digital camera 1103 and the portableinformation terminal 1104 constituting the wireless LAN system 1100 cancarry out transmission/reception of data between one another by carryingout transmission/reception of data using their respective wireless LANmodules 1110.

When connecting from the portable telephone 1101 of the wireless LANsystem 1100 to the Internet 1300 via a mobile communication network 1200by dial-up access, an Internet service provider 1301 in the Internet1300 is accessed by the personal computer 1102, the digital camera 1103or the portable information terminal 1104 via the wireless LAN system1100 and the mobile communication network 1200, and connection to a WWW(world wide web) server 1302 in the Internet 1300 is made.

In this manner, with the wireless LAN system 1100, the personal computer1102, the digital camera 1103 and the portable information terminal 1104can be connected to the Internet 1300 through radio connection withouthaving wired connection with the portable telephone 1101. Therefore,with the wireless LAN system 1100, the portability of the personalcomputer 1102, the digital camera 1103 and the portable informationterminal 1104 can be improved. Also, with such wireless LAN system 1100,it is possible to connect to the Internet 1300 in the state where theuser has the portable telephone 1101 in his/her bag and only carries aterminal such as the portable information terminal 1104 in hand.

The structure of a host equipment 1500 constituting the wireless LANsystem 1100 will now be described with reference to FIG. 32. The hostequipment 1500 is equivalent to an equipment operated by the user of thepersonal computer 1102, the digital camera 1103 or the portableinformation terminal 1104 of FIG. 31.

The host equipment 1500 is constituted by a communication controlsection 1510 which controls communication with the outside and isequivalent to the wireless LAN module 1110, and a host control section1530 for controlling the equipment itself.

The communication control section 1510 has a radio communication unit1511 for controlling radio communication within the wireless LAN system1100, an antenna section 1512 for carrying out transmission/reception ofdata to/from each section constituting the wireless LAN system 1100, abase band control section 1513 for giving a hopping frequency pattern tothe radio communication unit 1511, and an interface section 1514 forcarrying out input/output of data with the host control section 1530.

The base band control section 1513 carries out modulation anddemodulation processing of frequency hopping, processing for convertingdata handled in the communication control section 1510 into apredetermined format and transmitting the data via the communicationcontrol section 1510, and data conversion for converting the datareceived in the predetermined format and outputting the data to the hostcontrol section 1530.

The radio communication unit 1511 has a receiving section 1521 forcarrying out processing for receiving data from the antenna section1512, a transmitting section 1522 for carrying out processing fortransmitting data from the antenna section 1512, a switch section 1523for switching transmission of data from the transmitting section 1522via the antenna section 1512 and output of data from the antenna section1512 to the receiving section 1521, and a hopping synthesizer section1524 for carrying out spectrum spreading based on frequency hopping withrespect to the data in the receiving section 1521 and the transmittingsection 1522.

Moreover, the communication control section 1510 has a RAM (randomaccess memory) 1516, a ROM (read only memory) 1517, and a radiocommunication CPU (central processing unit) 1518 which are connected toa data bus 1515.

The radio communication CPU 1518 reads a control program for controllingeach section constituting the communication control section 1510 fromthe ROM 1517 via the data bus 1515, thus generating a control signal. Inthis case, the radio communication CPU 1518 houses data into the RAM1516 as a work space when necessary, and executes the control program.Thus, the radio communication CPU 1518 controls the base band controlsection 1513 and the radio communication unit 1511 so as to controlcommunication with another equipment constituting the wireless LANsystem 1100, and also controls the host control section 1530 via theinterface section 1514.

The host control section 1530 in the host equipment 1500 has aninterface section 1531 for carrying out input/output of signals with theinterface section 1514 of the communication control section 1510. In thehost control section 1530, a network setting storage section 1533 forstoring network setting information such as the server address of theInternet service provider 1301 when the host equipment 1500 is connectedto the Internet, an individual information storage section 1534 forstoring individual information such as the mail address, password andthe like of each user held by each host equipment 1500, and a CPU 1535for controlling these sections are connected via a data bus 1532.

In such host equipment 1500, when connecting to the Internet 1300,first, the network setting information stored in the network settingstorage section 1533 and the individual information stored in theindividual information storage section 1534 are outputted to thecommunication control section 1510, and then, the radio communicationunit 1511 and the base band control section 1513 are controlled so thatconnection setting with the Internet 1300 is carried out by the radiocommunication CPU 1518 of the communication control section 1510 usingthe network setting information and the individual information, thusestablishing connection between the host equipment 1500 and the WWWserver 1302.

To add the wireless LAN function of the Bluetooth system to eachequipment, two techniques are considered. The first technique is toprovide the wireless LAN function as a built-in function in theequipment, and the second technique is to store the wireless LANfunction of the Bluetooth system on a PCMCIA (Personal Computer MemoryCard International Association) card and connect it to anotherequipment.

FIG. 33 shows protocol stacks 1610, 1620 mounted on the portabletelephone 1101 and the portable information terminal 1104 in connectingto the Internet 1300 by using the wireless LAN system 1100 having thewireless LAN function of the built-in type according to the firsttechnique.

The protocol stack 1610 and the protocol stack 1620 have a physicallayer (PHY), a media access control layer (MAC) and a logical linkcontrol layer (LLC) for realizing the wireless LAN system 1100 of theBluetooth system, as lower three layers. Using the protocols of theselower three layers, the portable telephone 1101 and the portableinformation terminal 1104 carry out transmission/reception of datawithin the wireless LAN system 1100.

On the layer above the LLC of the protocol stack 1620, PPP (point topoint protocol) is mounted, having a protocol necessary for dial-upaccess to the Internet 1300. On the layers above the PPP, IP (Internetprotocol) and TCP (transmission control protocol) necessary forconnection to the Internet 1300 are mounted, and an application layer(AP) for preparation of user data is further mounted.

In the protocol stack 1610, the protocols for realizing the Bluetoothsystem are mounted as the lower three layers similar to those of theprotocol stack 1620, and a layer for using the mobile communicationnetwork such as W-CDMA (wide band-code division multiple access) or thelike is mounted thereon, thus setting a data communication mode torealize connection to the Internet 1300 via the mobile communicationnetwork 1200.

FIG. 34 shows protocol stacks 1610, 1630, and 1640 mounted on theportable telephone 1101, the PCMCIA card 1105, and the portableinformation terminal 1104 in storing the wireless LAN function onto thePCMCIA card to realize the wireless LAN system 1100 according to thesecond technique.

The wireless LAN function for constructing the wireless LAN system 1100of the Bluetooth system is built in the PCMCIA card 1105, and a physicallayer (PHY), a medium access control layer (MAC) and a logical linkcontrol layer (LLC) for realizing the Bluetooth system are provided aslower three layers, similarly to the protocol stack 1610 of the portabletelephone 1101. In the protocol stack 1630 of the PCMCIA card 1105,PCMCIA I/F is mounted as the upper layer above the LLC.

In the protocol stack 1640 of the portable information terminal 1104,PPP, IP, and TCP are mounted as the upper layers above the PCMCIA I/Flayer, and AP and transmission/reception of user data are provided asthe uppermost layer.

However, the first technique and the second technique for constructingthe wireless LAN system 1100 as described above have the followingproblems.

That is, in the first technique, since the protocol stacks for realizingthe wireless LAN system 1100 must be built in the equipments 1101, 1104constituting the wireless LAN system 1100, the burdens on the equipmentsin terms of hardware and software are increased, complicating theequipments 1101, 1104.

Specifically, to provide the built-in wireless LAN function, it isnecessary to mount the wireless LAN module 1110 on the equipments 1101,1104, and also to mount various protocols for connection to the Internet1300 on the equipment 1104 as shown in FIG. 33. Thus, in the firsttechnique, the cost for manufacturing the equipments 1101, 1104 isincreased and their designs are often redundant for users who do notmake connection to the Internet 1300.

In the second technique, though connector joint with the equipments1101, 1105, 1104 constituting the wireless LAN system 1100 can berealized by mounting the wireless LAN function on the PCMCIA card 1105,it is necessary to mount various protocols for connection to theInternet 1300 on the equipment 1104 as shown in FIG. 34 and there isalso a problem of cost similar to that of the first technique. Moreover,since the PCMCIA card 1105 employs a parallel interface in the form ofbus, the casing of the equipment 1104 on which the PCMCIA card ismounted is increased in size, making it difficult to apply the card to asmall-size portable equipment.

Furthermore, the equipments 1101 to 1104 constituting the wireless LANsystem 1100 need to store the network setting information and theindividual information such as the address of the Internet serviceprovider 1301, mail address, password and the like in connecting theInternet 1300, into the network setting storage section 1533 and theindividual information storage section 1534, as shown in FIGS. 31 and32.

Therefore, the user must set the network setting information and theindividual information for each of the equipments 1101 to 1104, and witha portable equipment having a poor man-machine interface function, theoperation for setting the network setting information and the individualinformation is troublesome and generates a large burden.

Particularly, when carrying out processing for changing the Internetservice provider 1301 or the like, it is necessary to change the settingrelated to network connection of each of the plurality of equipments1101 to 1104 constituting the wireless LAN system 1100.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing status of the art, it is an object of thepresent invention to provide a communication device, a communicationmethod and a communication terminal device which enable simplificationof network setting or the like for connection to the Internet or thelike with respect to each portable equipment constituting the wirelessLAN system.

In order to solve the foregoing problems, a communication deviceaccording to the present invention comprises: wired communication meansfor providing/receiving data via physical connection means to/from amounted host equipment; short distance radio communication means fortransmitting/receiving data to/from an external communication networkvia a short distance radio communication network; storage means in whichcommunication setting information as information related to thecommunication network is stored; and communication control means forsetting a connection relation with the communication network via theshort distance radio communication network on the basis of thecommunication setting information stored in the storage means, andcontrolling transmission/reception of data between the communicationnetwork and the host equipment.

A communication method according to the present invention comprises thesteps of: using communication setting information as information relatedto a communication network outside a short distance radio communicationnetwork, stored in a communication device, so as to set a connectionrelation between a radio control device and the communication networkvia the short distance radio communication network; and carrying outtransmission/reception of data between the communication device and thecommunication network via physical connection means by using theconnection relation between the communication device and thecommunication network, and carrying out transmission/reception betweendata between a host equipment and the communication device, thuscontrolling transmission/reception of data between the host equipmentand the communication network.

Another communication device according to the present inventioncomprises: wired communication means for providing/receiving data viaphysical connection means to/from a mounted host equipment; shortdistance radio communication means for transmitting/receiving datato/from an external communication network via a short distance radiocommunication network; storage means in which communication settinginformation as information related to the communication network isstored; and communication control means for setting a connectionrelation with the communication network via the short distance radiocommunication network on the basis of the communication settinginformation stored in the storage means, and controllingtransmission/reception of data between the communication network and thehost equipment; the wired communication means, the short distance radiocommunication means, the storage means, and the communication controlmeans being housed in a single casing; wherein the wired communicationmeans is arranged on one side of the communication control means, andthe short distance radio communication means is arranged on the otherside of the communication control means.

Another communication device according the present invention comprises,in a casing constituted to have a predetermined outer dimension thatallows free attachment/detachment of at least a part thereof to/from arecessed connection part provided in a host equipment: wiredcommunication means for providing/receiving data via physical connectionmeans to/from the mounted host equipment; short distance radiocommunication means for transmitting/receiving data to/from an externalcommunication network via a short distance radio communication network;storage means in which communication setting information as informationrelated to the communication network is stored; and communicationcontrol means for setting a connection relation with the communicationnetwork via the short distance radio communication network on the basisof the communication setting information stored in the storage means,and controlling transmission/reception of data between the communicationnetwork and the host equipment.

A communication terminal device according to the present inventioncomprises: public communication connection means operated by a user soas to be connected to a public communication network forproviding/receiving data; short distance radio communication means fortransmitting/receiving data to/from another equipment included in ashort distance radio communication network via the short distance radiocommunication network; communication setting information storage meansin which communication setting information as information related to anexternal communication network to be connected via the publiccommunication network is stored; communication connection setting meansfor setting connection with the communication network via the publiccommunication network by using the communication setting informationstored in the communication setting information storage means; andcontrol means for controlling to carry out transmission/reception ofdata between said another equipment and the communication network byusing a connection relation with the communication network set by thecommunication connection setting means.

Other object and specific advantages of the present invention will beclarified further in the following description of embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a network including a wireless LAN system according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of the wireless LAN system according to thepresent invention and protocol stacks for respective equipmentsconstituting the wireless LAN system.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the external structure of a radiocommunication device constituting the wireless LAN system according tothe present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the external structure of anotherradio communication device included in the wireless LAN system accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the external structure of still anotherradio communication device included in the wireless LAN system accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view showing the external structure of still anotherradio communication device included in the wireless LAN system accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 7A is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the radiocommunication device included in the wireless LAN system according tothe present invention, and FIG. 7B is a block diagram for explaining thearrangement of each section constituting the radio communication device.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing another example of the internalstructure of the radio communication device included in the wireless LANsystem according to the present invention.

FIG. 9A is a plan view showing the internal structure of the radiocommunication device included in the wireless LAN system according tothe present invention, and

FIG. 9B is a cross-sectional view for explaining the arrangement of eachsection constituting the radio communication device.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing the back side of the radio communicationdevice included in the wireless LAN system according to the presentinvention and a cross-sectional view showing the internal structure ofthe radio communication device.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing an antenna section mounted ona board and an RF module mounted on a multilayer board.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the mounting of a baseband processing section on the board.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a method for mounting aflash memory.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the formation of aradio wave absorbent mold in the RF module and the base band processingsection.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing the state where the radiocommunication device included in the wireless LAN system according tothe present invention is mounted on a host equipment.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing the structure of the radiocommunication device constituting the wireless LAN system according tothe present invention and the host equipment.

FIG. 17 shows the packet format of a control packet transmitted/receivedin the wireless LAN system according to the present invention.

FIG. 18 shows the state transition of an operation mode of the radiocommunication device constituting the wireless LAN system according tothe present invention.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart for explaining an example of processing procedureof the radio communication device in connecting the host equipment tothe Internet.

FIG. 20 is a view for explaining the connection between each hostequipment and a WWW server by mounting the radio communication device oneach host equipment, in the wireless LAN system in which a portableinformation terminal or the like exists as the host equipment.

FIG. 21 shows another structure of the wireless LAN system according tothe present invention and protocol stacks for respective equipmentsconstituting the wireless LAN system.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart for explaining another example of processingprocedure of the radio communication device in connecting the hostequipment to the Internet.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart for explaining another example of processingprocedure of the radio communication device in connecting the hostequipment to the Internet.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing the structure of a radiocommunication device with a memory function according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 25 is a block diagram showing the structure of the radiocommunication device with a memory function according to the presentinvention and a host equipment.

FIG. 26 shows the state transition of the operation mode of the radiocommunication device with a memory function constituting the wirelessLAN system according to the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart for explaining another example of processingprocedure of the radio communication device in connecting the hostequipment to the Internet.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing the processing of a radio communicationCPU in receiving user data from the host equipment and transmitting theuser data to a server included in the Internet via a portable telephone.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing the processing of a radio communicationCPU in receiving user data from the host equipment and transmitting theuser data to a server included in the Internet via a portable telephone.

FIG. 30 shows another structure of the wireless LAN system according tothe present invention and protocol stacks for respective equipmentsconstituting the wireless LAN system.

FIG. 31 shows a conventional wireless LAN system.

FIG. 32 is a block diagram showing a host equipment provided in theconventional wireless LAN system.

FIG. 33 is a view for explaining the wireless LAN system using aconventional first technique.

FIG. 34 is a view for explaining the wireless LAN system using aconventional second technique.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described indetail with reference to the drawings.

The present invention is applied to a wireless LAN (local area network)system constituted, for example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, in a wireless LAN system 1 connected to a publiccommunication network 40, the Bluetooth system is employed to realizedata communication among a communication equipment 2 (2 a to 2 e) asgateway, a radio communication device 3, and a host equipment 4 on whichthe radio communication device 3 is mounted.

The Bluetooth system is the name of a short distance radio communicationtechnique for which five Japanese and European corporations startedstandardization activity in May 1998. In accordance with the Bluetoothsystem, a short distance radio communication network having a maximumdata transmission rate of 1 Mbps (in effect, 721 Kbps) and a maximumtransmission distance of approximately 10 m is constructed to carry outdata communication. In the Bluetooth system, radio waves are transmittedand received between the host equipments 4 (4 a to 4 d) by employing aspread spectrum technique of the frequency hopping system, in which 79channels each having a bandwidth of 1 MHZ are set in the ISM (IndustrialScientific Medical) frequency band of a 2.4-GHz band that can be usedwithout permission and the channel is switched 1600 times per second.

A slave-master system is applied to the respective host equipments 4included in the short distance radio communication network employing theBluetooth system, so that these equipments are classified into a masterequipment that determines the frequency hopping pattern and slaveequipments as counterparts controlled by the master equipment, dependingon the processing contents. The master equipment can be connected withseven slave equipments at a time and can carry out data communicationsimultaneously. A subnet constituted by the total of eight equipmentsconsisting of the master equipment and the slave equipments is referredto as “piconet”. The host equipment 4 in the piconet, that is, as theslave equipment included in the wireless LAN system 1, can be the slaveequipment in two or more piconets at the same time.

The wireless LAN system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is constituted by thecommunication equipment 2 (2 a to 2 e) for carrying outtransmission/reception of data to/from the public communication network40 such as the Internet, the radio communication device 3 for carryingout transmission/reception of a control packet including user data andthe like to/from the communication equipment 2 via a short distanceradio communication network 30 in accordance with the Bluetooth system,and the host equipment 4 (4 a to 4 d) for carrying out input/output ofthe control packet including user data and the like to/from the radiocommunication device 3.

The host equipment 4 is an electronic device which is mechanicallyconnected with the radio communication device 3 and which is operated bythe user. The host equipment 4 includes, for example, a PDA (personaldigital assistant) 4 a, a digital camera 4 b, a mail processing terminal4 c, an EMD (electronic music distribution) terminal 4 d and the like.

The communication equipment 2 is connected to the radio communicationdevice 3 via the short distance radio communication network 30 and alsoconnected to the public communication network 40. The communicationequipment 2 is the gateway for connecting the radio communication device3 with the public communication network 40.

The communication equipment 2 includes a personal computer 2 a having amodem or the like for connecting to the public communication network 40,a portable telephone 2 b employing, for example, the cdma One (codedivision multiple access) system or the W-CDMA (wide band-code divisionmultiple access) system, a TA/modem 2 c, an STB (set top box) 2 d, and aquasi-public system 2 e such as a base station for connecting the radiocommunication device 3 conformable to the Bluetooth system with thepublic communication network 40.

The public communication network 40 includes, for example, the Internetconnected to the personal computer 2 a via a telephone line, a mobilecommunication network (or mobile network) connected to the portabletelephone 2 b, ISDN (integrated services digital network)/B(broadband)-ISDN connected to the TA/modem 2 c, a satellitecommunication network (or broadcasting) connected to the STB 2 d, WLL(wireless local loop) connected to the quasi-public system 2 d, and thelike.

The Internet included in the public communication network 40 includes aninformation providing server 41, a mail server 42, an EMD server 43, anda community server 44. The information providing server 41 receives arequest from the host equipment 4 via the radio communication device 3and the communication equipment 2, and transmits informationcorresponding to the request to the host equipment 4. The mail server 42manages electronic mails and transmits/receives electronic mails to/fromthe host equipment 4 via the communication equipment 2 and the radiocommunication device 3. Moreover, the EMD server 43 transmits musicinformation to the EMD terminal 4 d of the host equipment 4 via thecommunication equipment 2 and the radio communication device 3, and thusmanages music providing services. Furthermore, the community server 44provides downloading services for town information and news informationto the digital camera 4 b of the host equipment 4, and manages uploadingof information from the host equipment 4.

In the following description, the wireless LAN system 1 is describedwhich is constituted by the portable telephone (communication equipment)2 for carrying out transmission/reception of data to/from a mobilecommunication network 20, the radio communication device 3 for carryingout transmission/reception of a control packet including user data orthe like to/from the portable telephone 2 via the short distance radiocommunication network 30 in accordance with the Bluetooth system, andthe host equipment 4 for carrying out input/output of a control packetincluding user data with the radio communication device 3, as shown inFIG. 2, to simplify the description.

The portable telephone 2 has a function to connect to the publiccommunication network 40 via the mobile communication network 20 on thebasis of a control packet from the radio communication device 3. Acommand to connect the portable telephone 2 with the publiccommunication network 40 via the short distance radio communicationnetwork 30 of the Bluetooth system is issued from the radiocommunication device 3.

The host equipment 4 is, for example, a personal computer, a digitalcamera, a portable information terminal or the like, and is operated bythe user. The host equipment 4 has a serial interface to connect withthe radio communication device 3 and this interface enables mechanicalattachment/detachment of the host equipment 4 to/from the radiocommunication device 3 via a connector.

The radio communication device 3 has an external structure, for example,as shown in FIG. 3. The radio communication device 3 has a USB connector51 conformable to the USB (universal serial bus) standard. The radiocommunication device 3 is mechanically connected with the host equipment4 by inserting the USB connector 51 into a recessed connection partprovided in the host equipment 4 conformable to the USB standard. As theradio communication device 3 is connected with the host equipment 4, theradio communication device 3 carries out input/output of a controlpacket with the host equipment 4.

Alternatively, the radio communication device 3 may be constituted asshown in FIG. 4. The radio communication device 3 in this case has asemiconductor chip for realizing the above-described function of theBluetooth system, an antenna, a flash memory for storing user data andthe like, which are housed in a casing 60. The casing 60 of the radiocommunication device 3 is formed in a plate-like shape and its other end60 b has a thickness greater than that of its one end 60 a.

Furthermore, the radio communication device 3 may also be constituted asshown in FIG. 5. The radio communication device 3 in this case has asemiconductor chip for realizing the function of the above-describedfunction of the Bluetooth chip, an antenna, a flash memory and the likehoused in a casing 60, similarly to the radio communication device 3shown in FIG. 4. The casing 60 of the radio communication device 3 isformed in a plate-like shape, and its one end 60 a and its other end 60b have the same thickness.

In the radio communication device 3 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a pluralityof connection terminals 61 are provided on the one end 60 a of thecasing 60, as shown in FIG. 6. By having the plurality of connectionterminals 61, the radio communication device 3 is electrically connectedwith the host equipment 4. The radio communication device 3 has a 10-pinstructure including at least a terminal for detecting the attachmentto/detachment from the host equipment 4, a terminal forinputting/outputting a control packet with the host equipment 4, and thelike.

The radio communication device 3 having the external structure as shownin FIGS. 3 to 6 has an internal structure as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B.The radio communication device 3 has various chips including an antennasection 3 a, an RF module 3 b, a base band processing section (largescale integrated circuit) 3 c, and a flash memory 3 d, which are housedin the single casing 60, as shown in FIG. 7A. In the RF module 3 b, aswitch section (SW), a receiving section, a transmitting section, and ahopping synthesizer section are housed. In the base band processingsection 3 c, a base band control section, an interface section, anindividual information storage section, a network setting storagesection, a RAM (random access memory), a radio communication CPU(central processing unit), a ROM (read only memory), and a memorycontroller are housed. The various sections housed in the RF module 3 band the base band processing section 3 c will be described later.

The sections 3 a to 3 d are arranged and housed in the casing 60 in theorder of the antenna section 3 a, the RF module 3 b, the base bandprocessing section 3 c, and the flash memory 3 d from the other end 60 btoward the one end 60 a, as shown in FIG. 7B.

The sections 3 a to 3 d housed in the radio communication device 3 arenot limited to the structure shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, and may also beconstituted as shown in FIG. 8. The structure shown in FIG. 8 differs inthat an EEPROM (electrically erasable and programmable read only memory)3 e is provided in addition to the antenna section 3 a, the RF module 3b and the base band processing section 3 c. Moreover, in the base bandprocessing section 3 c shown in FIG. 8, a DMAC (direct memory accesscontroller), a flash memory of 256 KB, a CPU, a RAM of 72 KB, a baseband control section, an interface circuit (IIC) with respect to theEEPROM 3 e, and an MS I/F (memory stick (trademark) interface)conformable to the existing memory card standard are connected to a databus, and a memory controller is further provided.

More specifically, the radio communication device 3 is constituted asshown in FIGS. 9A and 9B. The radio communication device 3 has a board62 inside the casing 60, and the antenna section 3 a, the RF module 3 b,the base band processing section 3 c and the flash memory 3 d aremounted on the board 62. Moreover, the radio communication device 3 hasa 10-pin terminal section 60 e on the other end 60 b. As these sections3 a to 3 d are formed on the board 62, electrical connection via theboard 62 is realized.

The casing 60 of the radio communication device 3 has, for example, alongitudinal dimension t₁ of 21.45 mm, a lateral dimension t₂ of 50.0mm, and a height t₃ of 2.8 μm. The antenna section 3 a is made of a chipantenna integrated on the board and has, for example, a longitudinaldimension of 9.5 mm, a lateral dimension of 2.0 mm, and a height of 1.5μm. The base band processing section 3 c has a longitudinal dimension of9 mm and a lateral dimension of 9 mm.

A mounting method for mounting such antenna section 3 a, RF module 3 b,base band processing section 3 c, flash memory 3 d and terminal section60 e inside the casing 60 will be described with reference to FIG. 10.In FIG. 10, from the other end 60 b of the radio communication device 3,the antenna section 3 a, the RF module 3 b, the base band processingsection 3 c, and the flash memory 3 d are mounted and arranged on theboard 62. The mounting method for the antenna section 3 a, a functionelement, the RF module 3 b and the base band processing section 3 c willnow be described.

The antenna section 3 a is a mounted chip antenna mounted in the board62. The antenna section 3 a may also be another antenna such as abow-tie antenna, an inverted F antenna, a patch antenna, or a dipoleantenna. As shown in FIG. 11, the antenna section 3 a is formedintegrally with the board 62 arranged in the casing 60 and is mounted inthe state of being embedded in the board 62. In the radio communicationdevice 3, the shape of the other end 60 b of the casing 60 is deformedas shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 5, depending on the type of the antennasection 3 a to be used.

The RF module 3 b and the base band processing section 3 c are mountedon a multilayer board 63 formed on the board 62, as shown in FIGS. 11and 12. In this case, the multilayer board 63 has a four-layerstructure, in which a through-hole 64 having a metal film formed on itsinner wall is formed so as to realize conduction among the respectivelayers. Thus, in the radio communication device 3, electrical conductionamong the antenna section 3 a, the RF module 3 b, the base bandprocessing section 3 c, the flash memory 3 d and the terminal section 60e is secured and input/output of a packet is carried out among therespective sections.

The RF module 3 b is mounted on a metal pattern formed on the multilayerboard 63 via a flip-chip connecting section 65 by using a flip-chiptechnique on the multilayer board 63.

On the multilayer board 63 where the RF module 3 b is mounted, acapacitor 66 and a resonator (filter) 67 are mounted as they are builtbetween the layers, and an inductor 68 is mounted on the back side ofthe multilayer board 63. Moreover, a chip component 69 is mounted on themultilayer board 63.

When mounting the base band processing section 3 c on the multilayerboard 63, a wiring board 72, the base band processing section 3 c, aflip-chip connecting section 73, and a flash ROM are sequentiallystacked on solder balls 71, as shown in FIG. 12, and in the state wherethese are integrated, the base band processing section 3 c is mounted onthe multilayer board 63 by using the flip-chip technique. In this case,the base band processing section 3 c secures electrical conduction ofthe adjacent RF module 3 b and flash memory 3 d by connecting a wire 75by a wire bonding technique. Moreover, when mounting the base bandprocessing section 3 c, a radio absorptive material 76 is formed inorder to prevent radio interference with the other sections.

Furthermore, when mounting the flash memory 3 d on the board 62, amultilayer board is used which has such a structure that ultra thinboards 77 and solder balls 78 provided between the ultra thin boards 77are alternately stacked, as shown in FIG. 13. The respective ultra thinboards 77 are supported by the solder balls 78 and thus stacked at apredetermined spacing. When mounting the flash memory 3 d, the flashmemory 3 d is mounted between the ultra thin boards 77 via a flip-chipconnecting section 79 by using a flexible mounting technique and theflip-chip technique. In this case, four thin chips are used as the flashmemory 3 d.

The RF module 3 b and the base band processing section 3 c thus mountedare covered by a radio wave absorbent mold 3 f, as shown in FIG. 14, inorder to prevent radio waves from outside.

In the radio communication device 3, the antenna section 3 a, the RFmodule 3 b, the base band processing section 3 c, and the flash memory 3d are mounted on the board 62, as described above. Thus, the antennasection 3 a, the RF module 3 b, the base band processing section 3 c,and the flash memory 3 d can be sequentially mounted from the other end60 b toward the one end 60 a. By using the above-described technique,the antenna section 3 a, the RF module 3 b, the base band processingsection 3 c, and the flash memory 3 d can be housed within the casing 60having a thickness of 2.8 μm, a longitudinal dimension of 50.0 mm and alateral dimension of 2.4 mm.

The radio communication device 3 of such a structure is loaded in thehost equipment 4 such as a personal computer, in a mode as shown in FIG.15. Specifically, when the output terminals 61 provided on the one end60 a of the casing 60 of the radio communication device 3 are connectedto a recessed connecting section 4 f of the personal computer, the oneend 60 a is held inside the recessed connecting section 4 f of thepersonal computer and the other end 60 b is exposed outside of thepersonal computer. By thus connecting the radio communication device 3with the personal computer so as to expose the other end 60 b to theoutside, at least a part of the casing 60 covering the antenna section 3a is exposed to the outside.

In the case where the radio communication device 3 has the casing 60 ofthe external structure as shown in FIG. 4, the radio communicationdevice 3 is connected with the personal computer so that the other end60 b having a greater thickness than the one end 60 a is exposed outsidethe personal computer.

The protocol stacks mounted on the portable telephone 2, the radiocommunication device 3 and the host equipment 4, which constitute thewireless LAN system 1, will now be described with reference to FIG. 2.

The portable telephone 2 has mounted thereon a protocol stack 11 whichhas a physical layer (PHY), a medium access control layer (MAC) and alogical link control layer (LLC) for realizing the wireless LAN system 1of the Bluetooth system, as lower three layers. By using the protocolsof the lower three layers, the portable telephone 2 carries outtransmission/reception of a control packet to/from the radiocommunication device 3 via the short distance radio communicationnetwork 30.

The portable telephone 2 also has mounted thereon a W-CDMA (wideband-code division multiple access) protocol as the upper layer withrespect to the lower three layers. As the portable telephone 2 has theW-CDMA protocol mounted thereon and is set in the data communicationmode by the radio communication device 3, connection to the publiccommunication network 40 is realized via the mobile communicationnetwork 20. The portable telephone 2 may also have mounted thereon aprotocol that is different from the W-CDMA protocol.

The radio communication device 3 has a radio transmission/receptionfunction and a protocol control function. The radio communication device3 carries out transmission/reception of a control packet via theportable telephone 2 and the short distance radio communication network30, and carries out input/output of data from/to the host equipment 4.

Similar to the portable telephone 2, the radio communication device 3has mounted thereon a protocol stack 12 which has a physical layer(PHY), a medium access control layer (MAC) and a logical link controllayer (LLC) of the Bluetooth system, as lower three layers. By using theprotocols of the lower three layers, the radio communication device 3carries out transmission/reception of data to/from the portabletelephone 2 via the short distance radio communication network 30. Thestructure and processing contents of the radio communication device 3will be later described further in detail.

The radio communication device 3 also has mounted thereon a PPP (pointto point protocol) layer, an IP (Internet protocol) layer and a TCP(transmission control protocol) layer as the upper layers above thelower three layers for constituting the short distance radiocommunication network 30. The radio communication device 3 executesprocessing conformable to the PPP so as to carry out dial-up access tothe Internet service provider included in the public communicationnetwork 40, and executes processing conformable to the IP and TCP so asto control the portable telephone 2 to connect to the WWW (world wideweb) server included in the public communication network 40.

Moreover, the radio communication device 3 also has mounted thereon aHOST I/F layer for physical connection with the host equipment 4, as theupper layer above the TCP layer. The HOST I/F layer is a layer forconnecting with the host equipment and then carrying out input/output ofuser data. The HOST I/F layer is a layer for carrying out processingthat is to be carried out, for example, by a USB or an existinginterface for inputting/outputting only the data stored in the flashmemory.

The host equipment 4 has mounted thereon a HOST I/F layer correspondingto the HOST I/F layer mounted on the uppermost layer of the radiocommunication device 3, and an application (AP) layer as the upper layerwith respect to the HOST I/F layer. By having the HOST I/F layer mountedthereon, the host equipment 4 inputs/outputs user data generated by theapplication (AP) from/to the radio communication device 3. Theapplication layer stored in the host equipment 4 is equivalent toinstalled application software, if the host equipment 4 is a personalcomputer.

Also, the host equipment 4 is operated by the user and thus generates anoperation input signal. The host equipment 4 generates, for example, anoperation input signal to the effect that it is to be connected with theportable telephone 2 via the radio communication device 3 and the shortdistance radio communication network 30, and outputs a control commandaccordance to the operation input signal, to the radio communicationdevice 3. Thus, as the portable telephone 2 is connected with the publiccommunication network 40, the host equipment 4 is connected with thepublic communication network 40 via a public network made up of theshort distance radio communication network 30 and the mobilecommunication network 20.

Moreover, when the radio communication device 3 is loaded in the hostequipment 4, the host equipment 4 carries out input/output of a controlpacket including user data from/to the radio communication device 3 viathe HOST I/F layer by using a serial interface.

FIG. 16 shows a block diagram of the radio communication device 3 andthe host equipment 4 constituting the wireless LAN system 1.

The radio communication device 3 has a communication control section 81for carrying out radio communication in the wireless LAN system 1, anantenna section 82 for transmitting/receiving user data and the liketo/from each section constituting the wireless LAN system 1, a base bandcontrol section 83 for controlling communication carried out by thecommunication control section 81, and an interface section 84 forcarrying out input/output of a control packet including user datafrom/to the host equipment 4. In this case, the communication controlsection 81 corresponds to the above-described RF module 3 b, and thebase band control section 83 corresponds to the above-described baseband processing section 3 c.

The antenna section 82 is made up of an antenna fortransmitting/receiving signals in a 2.4-GHz band (2.402 to 2.480 GHz).The antenna section 82 transmits data from the communication controlsection 81 to the portable telephone 2 via the short distance radiocommunication network 30, and also receives a signal from the portabletelephone 2 via the short distance radio communication network 30 andoutputs it to the communication control section 81. The antenna section82 corresponds to the above-described antenna section 3 a.

With respect to the data in the short distance radio communicationnetwork 30 transmitted/received by the antenna section 82, a controlpacket which consists of a predetermined number of bits and is made upof user data and control data is transmitted/received as a minimum unit.

The communication control section 81 has a receiving section 91 forcarrying out processing to receive a control packet from the antennasection 92, a transmitting section 92 for carrying out processing totransmit a control packet from the antenna section 82, a switch section93 for switching transmission of a control packet from the transmittingsection 92 via the antenna section 82 and output of a control packetfrom the antenna section 82 to the receiving section 91, and a hoppingsynthesizer section 94 for carrying out spectrum spreading by frequencyhopping with respect to control packets in the receiving section 91 andthe transmitting section 92.

The switch section 93 operates in response to a control signal from aradio communication CPU (central processing unit) 89, which will bedescribed later. When receiving a control packet from the antennasection 82, the switch section 93 operates so as to output the controlpacket from the antenna section 82 to the receiving section 91. Whentransmitting a control packet from the antenna section 82, the switchsection 93 operates so as to output the control packet from thetransmitting section 92 to the antenna section 82.

The receiving section 91 receives the control packet from a switchsection 93 and outputs it to the base band control section 83. Thereceiving section 91 has a hopping frequency pattern designated thereforby the hopping synthesizer section 94. Thus, the receiving section 91receives the control packet in accordance with the frequency pattern ofthe case of receiving the control packet from the switch section 93 andthen outputs the control packet to the base band control section 83. Inthis case, the receiving section 91 carries out processing to multiplythe frequency pattern designated for each packet by the hoppingsynthesizer section 94, and outputs the resultant control packet to thebase band control section 83.

The transmitting section 92 is supplied with a control packet of eachpacket unit which is generated and primary-modulated by the base bandcontrol section 83, and outputs the control packet to the switch section93, as the control packet to be outputted to the portable telephone 2via the short distance radio communication network 30 from the antennasection 82. The transmitting section 92 has a frequency patterndesignated therefor by the hopping synthesizer section 94 and outputsthe control packet to the switch section 93 in accordance with thedesignated frequency pattern. In this case, the transmitting section 92carries out processing to perform frequency conversion on each packetunit by using the frequency pattern designated by the hoppingsynthesizer section 94 and then to transmit the control packet.

The hopping synthesizer section 94 has a hopping pattern designated forfrequency hopping from the base band control section 83. When receivinga control packet from the antenna section 82, the hopping synthesizersection 94 outputs the frequency pattern of the hopping patterndesignated by the base band control section 83 to the receiving section91. When transmitting a control packet from the antenna section 82, thehopping synthesizer section 94 outputs to the transmitting section 92the frequency pattern for the transmitting section 92 to performfrequency conversion on the data from the base band control section 83.The hopping synthesizer section 94 is controlled by the base bandcontrol section 83 so as to designate the same frequency pattern asthose of the receiving section 91 and the transmitting section 92.

The hopping synthesizer section 94 carries out frequency conversion soas to perform frequency hopping 1600 times per second, for example, on79 channels obtained by splitting the band every 1 MHZ (2.402 to 2.480GHz).

The base band control section 83 carries out the following processing inaccordance with a control signal from the radio communication CPU 89,which will be described later.

The base band control section 83 is supplied with a control packet ofeach packet unit from the receiving section 91, and carries outprocessing to demodulate the control packet which is frequency-modulatedby frequency hopping. When transmitting a control packet from theantenna section 82, the base band control section 83 performs primarymodulation on the control packet to be transmitted and then outputs theresultant control packet to the transmitting section 92.

Moreover, the base band control section 83 provides a hopping pattern tothe hopping synthesizer section 94, thereby controlling the hoppingsynthesizer section 94. Thus, the base band control section 83 controlsthe transmission timing for the control packet to be transmitted fromthe radio communication device 3 and also controls the reception timingfor the control packet to be received. The base band control section 83provides, for example, a frequency pattern f(k), f(k+1), f(k+2), . . .as the hopping pattern to the hopping synthesizer section 94 at everypredetermined time.

Furthermore, the base band control section 83 converts a control packetinto a predetermined packet format and outputs each control packet as aunit to the receiving section 91. The base band control section 83 alsocarries out processing to decompose a control packet of thepredetermined packet format from the transmitting section 92 and outputsthe decomposed control packet to the radio communication CPU 89 via theinterface section 84 or the data bus.

The predetermined packet format consists of SYNC (synchronous) data, PID(packet ID) data, PAYLOAD, and CRC (cyclic redundancy code) data, forexample, as shown in FIG. 17, and is basically conformable to the bulktransfer system of the USB standard.

The SYNC data is a synchronization code word indicating the start of thepacket.

The PID data is an identifier for identifying the packet and thereforedata indicating the type of the packet.

The PAYLOAD is an area in which control data and user data are stored.

The CRC data is a CRC parity for detection of an error, provided withrespect to the PAYLOAD.

The interface section 84 operates in accordance with a control signalfrom the radio communication CPU 89. The interface section 84 issupplied with the control packet received from the antenna section 82via the communication control section 81 and the base band controlsection 83, then performs predetermined conversion processing on thecontrol packet, and outputs the resultant control packet to the hostequipment 4. When transmitting a control packet from the antenna section82, the interface section 84 outputs the control packet inputted via thehost equipment 4 to the base band control section 83.

The interface section 84 may be, for example, a serial interface havingthe specification similar to that of a memory stick (trademarkregistered), as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

The radio communication device 3 also has an individual informationstorage section 85 for storing individual information provided for eachuser, and a network setting storage section 86 for storing networksetting information indicating necessary information for connecting thehost equipment 4 with networks such as the short distance radiocommunication network 30 and the public communication network 40.

In the individual information storage section 85, the mail address ofthe user owning the host equipment 4, the user ID for connecting to anaccess point, the password (for PPP connection) and the like are storedas individual information. The information in the individual informationstorage section 85 is read and has its contents controlled by the radiocommunication CPU 89.

In the case where an electronic mail application is assumed as anapplication to be executed by the radio communication device 3, thefollowing information may be stored in the individual informationstorage section 85: information indicating an electronic mail addresslist (address book) of destinations of electronic mails, informationindicating the transmission/reception record, information indicating afixed text list for realizing simplification of input to the hostequipment 4 (for example, a digital camera) which has a poor characterinput function, signature information to be added at the end of texts ofa transmitted electronic mail, information indicating the mail unique IDfor carrying out management of mails that are not read and mails thathave been read in receiving electronic mails, and the like.

Moreover, SIM (subscriber identification module) information may also bestored in the individual information storage section 85. The SIMinformation stored in the individual information storage section 85 isinformation which is required for identifying the user and which isencrypted inside the radio communication device 3 so as to improve thesecurity. The SIM information includes, for example, the user ID, theuser password, the mail ID for accessing the mail box of an individual,the mail password, the mail address of the user, the password forindividual identification for confirming the right of use of the radiocommunication device 3 itself and the like, which are encrypted.

In the network setting storage section 86, the server address, thetelephone number of an access point or the like, which are required whenthe host equipment 4 makes dial-up access to the Internet serviceprovider of the public communication network 40, are stored as thenetwork setting information. The network setting information is read andhas its contents controlled by the radio communication CPU 89.

The radio communication device 3 also has a RAM (random access memory)87, ROM (read only memory) 88, and the radio communication CPU 89 whichare connected to a data bus.

The radio communication CPU 89 reads a control program for controllingeach section constituting the radio communication device 3 from the ROM88 via the data bus and thus generates a control signal. The radiocommunication CPU 89 stores data into the RAM 87 as a work space, whennecessary, and executes the control program to generate the controlsignal. Thus, the radio communication CPU 89 controls the base bandcontrol section 83, the communication control section 81 and theinterface section 84 so as to generate a control packet for controllingcommunication with another equipment constituting the wireless LANsystem 1 and to carry out transmission/reception of the control packetto/from the host equipment 4 via the interface section 84. The contentsof processing carried out by execution of the control program by theradio communication CPU 89 will be later described in detail.

The host equipment 4 has an interface section 101 for carrying outinput/output of data from/to the interface section 84 of the radiocommunication device 3, and a host CPU 102 for controlling the interfacesection 101 or the like via a data bus.

The interface section 101 is made up of a serial interface such as USBcapable of carrying out input/output of a control packet including userdata with the interface section 84 of the radio communication device 3.

The interface section 101 may also be a serial interface capable ofcarrying out transmission/reception of a control packet to/from theinterface section 84 of the radio communication device 3, as shown inFIGS. 5 and 6.

The host CPU 102 generates a control packet including user datagenerated by the host equipment 4 and control data such as an operationinput signal or the like generated by operation by the user. The hostCPU 102 executes the processing in the application layer, therebygenerating the user data and the control data. The host CPU 102 executesthe processing in the HOST I/F layer, thereby generating a controlpacket, and outputs the control packet to the radio communication device3 via the interface section 101.

The radio communication device 3 and the host equipment 4 are in amaster-slave relation. The host equipment 4 is a master and the radiocommunication device is a slave. That is, the radio communication device3 operates in accordance with a control packet or the like from the hostCPU 102. For example, in the case of outputting the user data from theradio communication device 3 to the host equipment 4, the radiocommunication device 3 can output the user data to the host equipment 4only when a control packet to the effect that the right to use theserial data line for connecting to the host equipment 4 is inputted tothe radio communication CPU 89 from the host CPU 102.

More specifically, when transmitting/receiving the user data between theradio communication device 3 and the host equipment 4, a control packetof the packet format shown in FIG. 17 is outputted from the hostequipment 4 to the radio communication CPU 89 of the radio communicationdevice 3 at a predetermined time interval.

That is, when transmitting the user data to the radio communicationdevice 3, the host CPU 102 of the host equipment 4 generates a controlpacket in which control data indicating “OUT token packet” as the PIDdata is stored, and outputs the control packet to the radiocommunication CPU 89. When the host CPU 102 can accept the user datafrom the radio communication device 3, the host CPU 102 generates acontrol packet in which control data indicating “IN token packet” as thePID data is stored, and outputs the control packet to the radiocommunication CPU 89. Thus, control packets including user data can bebidirectionally inputted/outputted between the radio communicationdevice 3 and the host equipment 4.

Moreover, the host CPU 102 generates and outputs a control packet inwhich the contents of the PID data are changed in accordance with thecontrol contents of the radio communication device 3, therebycontrolling the operation mode of the radio communication device 3.Specifically, the host CPU 102 outputs the control packet to the radiocommunication CPU 89, thus switching the mode of the radio communicationdevice 3 to a communication idle mode, a memory mode, an OUT transactionmode, or an IN transaction mode.

FIG. 18 shows a state transition view of the radio communication device3 with its operation mode switched by the host CPU 102.

In this case, the radio communication device 3 is normally set in thecommunication idle mode (step ST1), that is, an operation mode in whicha control packet is not transmitted from the host equipment 4 to theradio communication device 3 and in which the radio communication device3 is on standby for communication processing.

When a control packet in which control data indicating “OUT tokenpacket” as PID data is stored is inputted to the radio communication CPU89 from the host CPU 102, the radio communication CPU 89 shifts to theOUT transaction mode (step ST2), that is, an operation mode in whichuser data is transmitted from the host equipment 4.

In the OUT transaction mode, when it is determined from the CRC data ofthe control packet that no error is included in the PAYLOAD, the radiocommunication CPU 89 generates a control packet in which control dataindicating a “ACK (acknowledgment)” as PID data is stored, and transmitsthe control packet to the host equipment 4 (step ST2 a). Then, the radiocommunication CPU 89 returns to the communication idle mode (step ST 1).

In the OUT transaction mode, when it is determined from the CRC data ofthe control packet that an error is included in the PAYLOAD, the radiocommunication CPU 89 generates a control packet in which control dataindicating “NAK (negative acknowledgment)” as PID data is stored, andtransmits the control packet to the host equipment 4 (step ST2 b). Then,the radio communication CPU 89 returns to the communication idle mode(step ST1).

Moreover, in the OUT transaction mode, when the radio communication CPU89 cannot receive the control packet, the radio communication CPU 89generates a control packet in which control data indicating “STALL” asPID data is stored, and transmits the control packet to the hostequipment 4 (step ST2 c). Then, the radio communication CPU 89 returnsto the communication idle mode (step ST1).

When a control packet in which control data indicating “IN token packet”as PID data is housed is inputted to the radio communication CPU 89 fromthe host CPU 102, the radio communication CPU 89 shifts from thecommunication idle mode (step ST1) to the IN transaction mode (stepST3), that is, an operation mode in which transmission of user data fromthe host equipment 4 to the radio communication device 3 is permitted.

In the IN transaction mode (step ST3), the radio communication CPU 89generates a control packet including user data and carries outtransmission of the user data (step ST3 a). In this case, the radiocommunication CPU 89 stores, into each control packet, control datahaving PID data sequentially changed to “DATA0” and “DATA1” as toggle,and transmits the control packet to the host CPU 102. Thus, the radiocommunication CPU 89 and the host CPU 102 mutually confirm transmissionof the control packet to be inputted/outputted.

In response to the transmission (step ST3 a) of the control packet tothe host equipment 4, the radio communication CPU 89 is set in thestandby state until a control packet indicating a response from the hostCPU 102 is transmitted. The response to be transmitted from the host CPU102 to the radio communication CPU 89 is ACK reception (step ST3 b)indicating that the data is securely transmitted from the radiocommunication device 3 to the host equipment 4, NAK reception (step ST3c) indicating that the data is not transmitted from the radiocommunication device 3 to the host equipment 4, or STALL reception (stepST3 d) indicating that the host equipment 4 is not in the state forreceiving the data.

The radio communication CPU 89 shifts to the communication idle mode(step ST 1) in response to the reception of a control packet havingcontrol data indicating ACK reception, NAK reception or STALL receptionstored in the PAYLOAD.

When a control packet in which control data indicating“network/individual information setting mode” as PID data is stored isinputted to the radio communication CPU 89 from the host CPU 102, theradio communication CPU 89 shifts from the communication idle mode (stepST1) to a network/individual information setting mode (step ST4).

In the network/individual information setting mode, the radiocommunication CPU 89 carries out processing such as reading, writing,updating, erasing or the like of the individual information stored inthe individual information storage section 85 and the network settinginformation stored in the network setting storage section 86, and thenreturns to the communication idle mode (step ST1). In this case, theradio communication CPU 89 carries out processing such as reading,writing, updating, erasing or the like of the individual information andthe network setting information, for example, in accordance with thecontrol data stored in the PAYLOAD.

When connecting the radio communication device 3 to the publiccommunication network 40 via the short distance radio communicationnetwork 30, the host CPU 102 transmits a control packet to that effectto the radio communication CPU 89, thus controlling the connection withthe Internet service provide in the public communication network 40. Theprocessing procedure for connecting host equipment 4 with the publiccommunication network 40 via the radio communication device 3, the shortdistance radio communication network 30 and the mobile communicationnetwork 20 will be described later.

Hereinafter, the processing to be carried out by the radio communicationCPU 89 for connecting the host equipment 4 with the WWW server in thepublic communication network 40 in the above-described wireless LANsystem 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 19.FIG. 19 shows the data transmitted/received among the host equipment 4,the radio communication device 3, the portable telephone 2, the publicnetwork comprising the mobile communication network 20 and the publiccommunication network 40, the Internet service provider included in thepublic communication network 40, and the WWW server included in thepublic communication network 40, and mainly shows the processingcontents of the radio communication CPU 89.

In FIG. 19, first, the host CPU 102 transmits a control packetindicating an originating request S1 for originating user data from thehost equipment 4 to the WWW server included in the public communicationnetwork 40, to the radio communication CPU 89.

Then, in response to the originating request S1, the radio communicationCPU 89 starts the PPP stored in the ROM 88, at step ST11.

The radio communication CPU 89 carries out processing to generate acontrol packet having the originating request and telephone number S2stored in PAYLOAD, with reference to the telephone number of theInternet service provider of the access destination stored in thenetwork setting storage section 86, and transmits the originatingrequest and telephone number S2 to the portable telephone 2 via theshort distance radio communication network 30.

Then, in response to the originating request and telephone number S2from the radio communication device 3, the portable telephone 2transmits first call setting S3 (Set up (1)) to the public network. Inresponse to this, the public network transmits second call setting S4(Set up (2)) having the contents similar those of the first call settingS3 to the Internet service provider via a plurality of repeaters such asrouters. As the Internet service provider responds, the public networkis supplied with and receives first connection information S5 (Connect(2)) for confirming connection, from the Internet service provider.Then, in response to the reception of the first connection informationS5, the public network transmits second connection information S6(Connect (1)) having the contents similar to those of the firstconnection information S5 to the portable telephone 2.

The portable telephone 2 transmits connection completion information S7indicating that the connection with the Internet service provider iscompleted, to the radio communication device 3 via the short distanceradio communication network 30.

At the next step ST12, the radio communication CPU 89 shifts to a linkestablishment phase as the PPP in response to the connection completioninformation S7 received from the portable telephone 2.

At the next step ST13, the radio communication CPU 89 carries outauthentication processing with the PPP. In this case, the radiocommunication CPU 89 reads out the user ID and password from theindividual information storage section 85 and transmits/receivesauthentication information S8 for mutually authentication with theInternet service provider via the portable telephone 2 and the publicnetwork by using the PPP, thus carrying out the authenticationprocessing.

At the next step ST14, the radio communication CPU 89 completes theauthentication processing by transmitting/receiving the authenticationinformation S8 to/from the Internet service provider, and then enters anauthentication establishment phase. The radio communication CPU 89outputs a control packet including connection completion information S9indicating that the connection between the radio communication device 3and the Internet service provider is completed, to the host CPU 102 ofthe host equipment 4.

At the next step ST15, the radio communication CPU 89 shifts to anetwork layer protocol phase in response to the completion of theauthentication processing of step ST14. Specifically, the radiocommunication CPU 89 executes processing in conformity with the IP andTCP mounted in the protocol stack, thereby making connection with thepublic communication network 40.

At the next step ST16, the host CPU 102 stores user data into PAYLOAD ofthe control packet and carries out input/output of user data S10 withthe radio communication device 3. Also, the host CPU 102 packetizes theuser data S10 by adding control information to the user data S10 inaccordance with the TCP and IP, and carries out transmission/receptionof packetized user data S11 between the radio communication device 3 andthe WWW server in the public communication network 40.

With the radio communication device 3 which carries out theabove-described processing, since it has the individual informationstorage section 85 and the network setting storage section 86 in whichthe individual information and the network setting information arestored, respectively, connection with the Internet service provider canbe made by starting the PPP by the radio communication CPU 89 and thenusing the individual information and the network setting information.Also, with the radio communication device 3, connection between the hostequipment 4 and the WWW server can be made by starting the IP and TCP,then transmitting/receiving the encapsulated user data to/from the WWWserver using the individual information and the network settinginformation, and connecting to the host equipment 4 using the controlpacket.

Thus, with the radio communication device 3, since it is not necessaryto store the individual information and the network setting informationin the host equipment 4, it is not necessary to carry out various typesof setting for each host equipment 4 for connection with the publiccommunication network 40, and the network setting or the like forconnecting to the public communication network 40 can be simplified foreach host equipment 4. Therefore, in the wireless LAN system 1, theconnection setting between each host equipment 4 and the WWW server canbe carried out by loading the radio communication device 3 in each hostequipment 4.

Also, with the radio communication device 3, transmission/reception ofdata between the host equipment 4 and the public communication network40 can be carried out irrespective of the type of the host equipment 4,by transmitting/receiving a control packet of the common packetstructure for the respective host equipments 4 to/from the individualinformation storage section 85 and the network setting storage section86.

Moreover, with the radio communication device 3, in carrying outtransmission/reception of data between the host equipment 4 and thepublic communication network 40, the individual information and thenetwork setting information can be shared by the respective hostequipments 4 by performing single-element management of the addressinformation of the server or the like included in the publiccommunication network 40 and the transmission/reception record,irrespective of the type of the host equipment 4, and the trouble ofsetting the individual information and the network setting informationfor each host equipment 4 can be eliminated.

As shown in FIG. 20, in the wireless LAN system 1 where a portableinformation terminal 4 a, a personal computer 4 b, a conversion adapter4 c, a gate machine 4 d and a television 4 e exist as the host equipment4, for example, as the radio communication device 3 is loaded in thehost equipment 4 c, the radio communication device 3 can connect thegame machine 4 d, which is not capable of loading the radiocommunication device 3 therein, with the WWW server.

In such a wireless LAN system 1, when carrying out setting forconnecting an equipment having poor operation and display capabilitysuch as a digital camera with the WWW server, it is not necessary tocarry out various types of setting in the digital camera. By using theportable information terminal 4 a or the personal computer 4 b having amore advanced man-machine interface than that of the digital camera, theindividual information and the network setting information stored in theradio communication device 3 can be set. Thus, with the wireless LANsystem 1 having the radio communication device 3, connection between thedigital camera and the WWW server can be made by loading the radiocommunication device 3 which has carried out network setting in thepersonal computer 4 b, into the digital camera, and the network settingcan be easily carried out for the digital camera or the like having pooroperation and display functions.

Moreover, a user who does not have the personal computer 4 b may combinethe game machine 4 d with the television 4 e and set the individualinformation and the network setting information via the conversionadapter 4 c. Since the radio communication device 3 and the game machine4 d cannot carry out input/output of signals directly with each other,input/output of signals between the radio communication device 3 and thegame machine 4 d is carried out by using a USB or the conversion adapter4 c between the interface of a radio communication device with a memoryfunction, which will be described later, and the interface of the gamemachine 4 d. Thus, the network setting or the like can be easily carriedout. By loading the radio communication device 3 which has carried outthe network setting in another host equipment 4 such as game equipment 4d or the television 4 e into the digital camera, connection between thedigital camera and the WWW server is made possible and the digitalcamera can be used, for example, as a dynamic image viewer.

With the above-described radio communication device 3, it is notnecessary to provide a function for constructing the wireless LAN system1 on the side of the host equipment 4 and a function for connecting tothe public communication network 40, as built-in functions, and the costof the host equipment 4 can be reduced.

The host CPU 102 is not limited to the example in which it starts thePPP, IP and TCP mounted in the radio communication device 3 and controlsconnection to the Internet. It is also possible to mount the PPP, IP andTCP inside the host equipment 4 and select connection to the Internetusing the protocols mounted in the radio communication device 3 orconnection to the Internet using the protocols mounted in the hostequipment 4.

Specifically, unlike the example of the wireless LAN system 1 shown inFIG. 2, the PPP, IP and TCP for carrying out network setting may beprovided in the protocol stack 14 mounted in the host equipment 4, asshown in FIG. 21.

In the case of making connection with the public communication network40 by using the wireless LAN system 1 having such a host equipment 4,when the PPP, IP and TCP stored in the host equipment 4 are used, thePPP, IP and TCP mounted in the radio communication device 3 are notstarted and a path L1 for inputting/outputting a control packet betweenthe HOST I/F layer and the LLC layer in the radio communication device 3is used. Thus, in the radio communication device 3, a memory space whichwould be required for starting the PPP, IP and TCP can be used forstoring other data. On the other hand, when the PPP, IP and TCP storedin the radio communication device 3 are used, the PPP, IP and TCPmounted in the host equipment 4 are not used and a path L2 forinputting/outputting a control packet between the AP layer and the HOSTI/F layer in the host equipment 4 is used.

Alternative processing procedure for connecting the host equipment 4with the WWW server in the public communication network 40 in thewireless LAN system 1 shown in FIG. 21 will now be described withreference to FIGS. 22 and 23. In the following description of FIGS. 22and 23, the processing similar the processing shown in FIG. 19 isdenoted by the same numeral and will not be described further in detail.

In FIG. 22, first, an originating request S21 for requesting connectionbetween the host equipment 4 and the WWW server in the publiccommunication network 40 is outputted from the host CPU 102 to the radiocommunication device 3.

At the next step ST21, when only the originating request S21 istransmitted to the radio communication CPU 89 of the radio communicationdevice 3, the radio communication CPU 89 determines to use an internalprotocol stored, for example, in the ROM 88 and mounted inside. Then,the radio communication CPU 89 carries out processing of steps ST11 toST16 similarly to the processing described with reference to FIG. 19,thereby connecting to the Internet service provider in the publiccommunication network 40 and making connection between the hostequipment 4 and the WWW server. That is, the radio communication CPU 89carries out processing of each layer of the protocol stack 14 withrespect to a control packet by using the path L1.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 23, if processing to start the PPPas an internal protocol stored in the built-in ROM is carried out by thehost CPU 102 at step ST31, and an originating request and telephonenumber of the Internet service provider S31 is inputted, the radiocommunication CPU 89 determines not to use the internal protocol at stepST21. That is, the radio communication CPU 89 carries out processing ofeach layer of the protocol stack 12 with respect to a control packet byusing the path L2.

The host equipment 4 causes the portable telephone 2 to transmit anoriginating request and telephone number S2 having the same contents asthose of the originating request and telephone number S31 to the radiocommunication device 3 via the short distance radio communicationnetwork 30, as described above with reference to FIG. 19, and thencarries out the following processing.

That is, the host equipment 4 transmits first call setting S3 (Set up(1)) to the public network and transmits second call setting S4 of thesame contents as those of the first call setting S3 from the publicnetwork to the Internet service provider. In this case, as the Internetservice provider responds, the public network is supplied with andreceives first connection information S5 for confirming the connectionfrom the Internet service provider. In response to the reception of thefirst connection information S5, second connection information S6 of thesame contents as those of the first connection information S5 istransmitted from the public network to the portable telephone 2, andconnection completion information S7 indicating that the connection withthe Internet service provider is completed is transmitted from theportable telephone 2 to the radio communication device 3 via the shortdistance radio communication network 30. The radio communication device3 outputs connection completion information S32 of the same contents asthose of the connection completion information S7, as a control packet,to the host equipment 4.

At the next step ST32, the host CPU 102 shifts to a link establishmentphase as the PPP in response to the connection completion informationS32 received from the portable telephone 2.

At the next step ST33, the host CPU 102 carries out authenticationprocessing with the PPP. In this case, the host CPU 102 is supplied withthe user ID and password as a control packet from the individualinformation storage section 85 of the radio communication device 3 viathe interface section 84 and the interface section 101, andtransmits/receives authentication information S33 for mutualauthentication with the Internet service provider via the radiocommunication device 3, the portable telephone 2 and the public networkin accordance with the PPP, thus carrying out the authenticationprocessing.

At the next step ST34, the host CPU 102 completes the authenticationprocessing by transmitting/receiving the authentication informationto/from the Internet service provider, and then enters an authenticationestablishment phase.

At the next step ST35, the host CPU 102 shifts to a network layerprotocol phase in response to the completion of the authenticationprocessing at step ST34. That is, the host CPU 102 makes connection withthe public communication network 40 by using the IP and TCP mounted inthe protocol stack.

At the next step ST36, the host CPU 102 packetizes the user data byadding control data to the user data in accordance with the TCP and IPand carries out transmission/reception of packetized user data S34to/from the WWW server in the public network communication 40 via theradio communication device 3.

Therefore, with the wireless LAN system 1 capable of carrying out suchprocessing, even in the case of connecting to the public communicationnetwork 40 using the host equipment 4 on the basis of the determinationto use the internal protocol stored in the host equipment 4 at step ST21in FIG. 23, the individual information and the network settinginformation are inputted to the host CPU 102 from the individualinformation storage section 85 and the network setting storage section86 of the radio communication device 3 via the interface section 84 andthe interface section 101. Thus, it is not necessary to store theindividual information and the network setting information on the sideof the host equipment 4 and to carry out setting for each host equipment4 for connection to the public communication network 40, and the networksetting or the like for connection to the public communication network40 can be easily carried out for each host equipment 4.

A radio communication device with a memory function 200 having a flashmemory as shown in FIG. 7 will now be described. The radio communicationdevice with a memory function 200 is used for carrying out input/outputof serial data with a digital camera 4A as the host equipment 4, asshown in FIG. 24.

The radio communication device with a memory function 200 has a flashmemory 111 for storing image data obtained by shooting with the digitalcamera 4A, a memory controller 112 for managing the contents of theflash memory 111, and an interface section 113 connected with thedigital camera 4A for carrying out input/output of image data or thelike. The interface section 113 is a serial interface constituted asshown in FIGS. 5 and 6 and having the same specification as a memorystick (trademark). That is, the radio communication device with a memoryfunction 200 has a plurality of terminals at which the bus stateindicating the state of a serial bus when it is connected with anexternal equipment, data, clock and the like are inputted/outputted.

More specifically, the radio communication device with a memory function200 may have the same shape and specification as an existing memory cardhaving a built-in flash memory and employing a serial protocol as theinterface. That is, the radio communication device with a memoryfunction 200 has, for example, a casing with a longitudinal dimension of50.0 mm, a lateral dimension of 2.5 μm and a thickness of 2.8 mm, havingthe flash memory and the memory controller 112 housed therein. In theradio communication device with a memory function 200,transmission/reception of data to/from the host equipment 4 is carriedout by using only the three pins for the data, clock and bus state, of10 pins. The clock and bus state are supplied from the host equipment 4,and the data is transferred by bidirectional half-duplex transfer. Whentransmitting/receiving a control packet as data between the radiocommunication device with a memory function 200 and the host equipment4, the maximum frequency of the clock is set at 20 MHZ and an errorcheck code with 512 bytes as a basic unit is added, thus carrying outtransfer.

The memory controller 112 carries out processing in accordance with theprotocol of the serial interface and controls the contents of the flashmemory 111. In the case where the flash memory 111 is made up of aplurality of flash memories, the memory controller 112 controls thecontents of each flash memory. Moreover, in the case where the flashmemory 111 is made up of a plurality of flash memories of differenttypes, the memory controller 112 absorbs the characteristic differenceof the various flash memories so as to control each flash memory, andcarries out error correction processing corresponding to the errorcharacteristics of the various flash memories. The memory controller 112also carries out processing to convert parallel data into serial data.

By carrying out processing in conformity with the protocol of the serialinterface, the memory controller 112 is compatible with an existingflash memory and even with a future flash memory.

The memory controller 112 employs a FAT (file allocation table), forexample, mounted on a personal computer, as the file management systemfor the flash memory 111.

Moreover, the memory controller 112 stores a plurality of applicationssuch as static images, dynamic images, speech, music and the like intothe flash memory 111, and controls the contents of the flash memory 111.In this case, the memory controller 112 prescribes, in advance, the fileformat and directory management for recording data into the flash memory111 by each application, and manages the data stored in the flash memory111. The memory controller 112 employs the DCF (Design rule for CameraFile system) standardized by Japan Electronic Industry DevelopmentAssociation (JEIDA), as a static image format, and employs the ADPCM(Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation) of the ITU-T(International Telecommunication Union) Recommendation G.726, as anaudio format.

Such a radio communication device with a memory function 200 is loadedinto the digital camera 4A at the time of image shooting with thedigital camera 4A, and image data obtained by shooting is inputted tothe memory controller 112 via the interface section 113. Then, thememory controller 112 carries out processing to store the inputted imagedata into the flash memory 111. The radio communication device with amemory function 200 is also loaded, for example, via the interface of apersonal computer, and outputs the image data stored into the flashmemory 111 by memory controller 112 via the interface section 113.

The structure of the radio communication device with a memory function200 is as shown in FIG. 25. In the description of FIG. 25, portionssimilar to those of the radio communication device 3 shown in FIG. 16are denoted by the same numerals and will not be described further indetail.

As shown in FIG. 25, the interface section 113 of the radiocommunication device with a memory function 200 carries out input/outputof a control packet and the like from/to the interface section 101 ofthe host equipment 4, and is connected with a data bus and a base bandcontrol section 83. The interface section 101 of the host equipment 4 isan interface corresponding to the interface section 113 of the radiocommunication device with a memory function 200.

In such a radio communication device with a memory function 200, theindividual information and the network setting information included in acontrol packet are inputted from or outputted to the host equipment 4 bythe interface section 113 for inputting/outputting image data.

With the radio communication device with a memory function 200, forexample, connection with the digital camera 4A is made and image dataobtained by shooting with the digital camera 4A is temporarily storedinto the internal flash memory 111. Then, connection with the publiccommunication network 40 via the portable telephone 2 is made by theradio communication CPU 89 and the image data can be transmitted as userdata to an individual area of the WWW server.

Also, with the radio communication device with a memory function 200, asshown in FIG. 26, when a control packet in which control data indicating“memory mode packet” as PID data is stored is inputted from the hostequipment 4 to the radio communication CPU 89 in a communication idlemode (step ST1), the radio communication CPU 89 enters a memory mode(step ST5) for writing, reading, updating and erasing image data in theflash memory 111.

In the memory mode, the radio communication CPU 89 controls the memorycontroller 112 to carry out processing such as writing to the flashmemory 111, and then returns to the communication idle mode (step ST1).

In the case where connection with the public communication network 40 ismade via the portable telephone 2, when a control packet to the effectthat image data is to be transmitted to the WWW server is inputted fromthe host equipment 4, the radio communication CPU 89 carries outprocessing to packetize image data as user data and transmit thepacketized image data to the WWW server.

The processing carried out by the radio communication CPU 89 whenconnecting the host equipment 4 with the WWW server of the publiccommunication network 40 in the wireless LAN system 1 having theabove-described radio communication device with a memory function 200will now be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 27. In thedescription of FIG. 27, steps ST similar to those in the foregoingflowchart are denoted by the same step numbers and will not be describedfurther in detail.

In FIG. 27, the flash memory 111 of the radio communication device witha memory function 200 assumes that user data S0 representing an imageshot by the digital camera is transmitted and stored in advance in theradio communication device with a memory function 200, for example, asshown in FIG. 24.

Then, the host CPU 102 transmits a control packet indicating anoriginating request S1 for originating the user data from the hostequipment 4 to the WWW server included in the public communicationnetwork 40, to the radio communication CPU 89.

Then, in response to the originating request S1, the host CPU 102 atstep ST 11 starts the PPP stored, for example, in the ROM 88.

The radio communication CPU 89 carries out processing to generate acontrol packet having the originating request and telephone number S2stored in PAYLOAD with reference to the telephone number of the Internetservice provider stored in the network setting storage section 86, andtransmits the originating request and telephone number S2 to theportable telephone 2 via the short distance radio communication network30.

Next, the portable telephone 2 transmits first call setting S3 (Set up(1)) to the public network in response to the originating request andtelephone number from the radio communication device with a memoryfunction 200. In response to this, the public network transmits secondcall setting S4 (Set up (2)) having the contents similar to those of thefirst call setting S3, to the Internet service provider. In this case,as the Internet service provider responds, the public network issupplied with and receives first connection information S5 (Connect (2))for confirming the connection from the Internet service provider. Inresponse to the reception of the first connection information S5, thepublic network transmits second connection information S6 (Connect (1))having the contents similar to those of the first connection informationS5, to the portable telephone 2.

The portable telephone 2 transmits connection completion information S7indicating that the connection with the Internet service provider iscompleted, to the radio communication device with a memory function 200via the short distance radio communication network 30.

At the next step ST12, the radio communication CPU 89 shifts to a linkestablishment phase as the PPP in response to the connection completioninformation S7 received from the portable telephone 2.

At the next step ST13, the radio communication CPU 89 carries outauthentication processing based on the PPP. In this case, the radiocommunication CPU 89 reads out the user ID and password from theindividual information storage section 85 and then transmits/receivesauthentication information S8 for mutual authentication with theInternet service provider via the portable telephone 2 and the publicnetwork in accordance with the PPP, thus carrying out the authenticationprocessing.

At the next step ST14, the radio communication CPU 89 completes theauthentication processing by transmitting/receiving the authenticationinformation S8 to/from the Internet service provider, and then enters anauthentication establishment phase. The radio communication CPU 89outputs a control packet including connection completion information S9indicating that the connection between the radio communication devicewith a memory function 200 and the Internet service provider iscompleted, to the host CPU 102 of the host equipment 4.

At the next step ST15, the radio communication CPU 89 shifts to anetwork layer protocol phase in response to the completion of theauthentication processing at step ST14. That is, the radio communicationCPU 89 makes connection with the public communication network 40 byusing the IP and TCP mounted in the protocol stack.

At the next step ST16, the radio communication CPU 89 generates acontrol packet including the user data S0 stored in the flash memory111, then packetizes the user data S0 by adding control information tothe user data S0 in accordance with the TCP and IP, and carries outtransmission/reception of packetized user data S11 between the radiocommunication device with a memory function 200 and the WWW server inthe public communication network 40.

With the radio communication device with a memory function 200, the userdata stored in the flash memory 111 can be transmitted to and receivedfrom the public communication network 40 without using the hostequipment 4, and similarly to the foregoing radio communication device3, connection with the Internet service provider can be made by causingthe radio communication CPU 89 to start the PPP and using the individualinformation and the network setting information. Thus, the networksetting or the like for each host equipment for connection with thepublic communication network 40 can be simplified, and it is notnecessary to provide the host equipment 4 with a built-in function toconstruct the wireless LAN system 1 or with a built-in function toconnect to the public communication network 40. Therefore, the cost ofthe host equipment 4 can be reduced.

The processing carried out by the radio communication CPU 89 whenreceiving user data from the host equipment 4 and transmitting the userdata to the server included in the public communication network 40 viathe portable telephone 2 will now be described with reference to FIGS.28 and 29.

In FIG. 28, first, at step ST41, the radio communication CPU 89 sets thenumber of redial calls (RC) with respect to the portable telephone 2 tozero (RC=0).

At the next step ST42, the radio communication CPU 89 enters a standbystate for inputting user data from the host equipment 4. At the nextstep ST43, when it is detected by the interface section 113 that theuser data is inputted from the host equipment 4, the radio communicationCPU 89 goes to step ST44. When the user data is not inputted from thehost equipment 4, the radio communication CPU 89 returns to step ST42and repeats steps ST42 and ST43 until the user data is inputted.

At step ST44, in response to the input of a control packet including theuser data to the interface section 113, the radio communication CPU 89controls the interface section 113 and the memory controller 112 so asto store the user data into the flash memory 111.

At the next step ST45, the radio communication CPU 89 discriminateswhether or not the end of the user data received at step ST44 isdetected by the interface section 113. When it is discriminated that theend of the user data is not detected by the interface section 113, theradio communication CPU 89 returns to step ST44 and repeats theprocessing of steps ST44 and ST 45 until the end of the user data isdetected by the interface section 113 and all the user data is stored inthe flash memory 111. When it is discriminated that the end of the userdata is detected by the interface section 113, the radio communicationCPU 89 goes to step ST46.

At step ST46, the radio communication CPU 89 transmits a control packetincluding a control command to the effect that the power should beturned on, to the portable telephone 2 and thus starts the portabletelephone 2.

At the next step ST47, the radio communication CPU 89 starts thephysical layer (PHY), media access control layer (MAC) and logical linkcontrol layer (LLC) stored in the ROM 88, thereby establishing a linkwith the portable telephone 2 in accordance with the Bluetooth system.

At the next step ST48, the radio communication CPU 89 transmits thecontrol packet including the telephone number of the Internet serviceprovider to the portable telephone 2. Thus, the radio communication CPU89 controls the portable telephone 2 so as to make dial-up access forconnecting to the Internet service provider via the portable telephone 2and then goes to step ST49 shown in FIG. 29.

At step ST49, the radio communication CPU 89 discriminates whether ornot the portable telephone 2 completed the connection to the Internetservice provider at step ST48. When it is discriminated that theportable telephone 2 completed the connection to the Internet serviceprovider, the radio communication CPU 89 goes to step ST54. When it isdiscriminated that the portable telephone 2 did not complete theconnection to the Internet service provider, the radio communication CPU89 goes to step ST50. The case where the portable telephone 2 does notcomplete the connection with the Internet service provider is, forexample, the case where the portable telephone 2 cannot receive radiowaves, that is, the case where the portable telephone 2 is out of theradio wave reception area. In this case, a control packet indicatingthat the connection cannot be made is inputted to the radiocommunication CPU 89 from the portable telephone 2.

At step ST50, the number of redial calls is incremented.

At the next step ST51, the radio communication CPU 89 discriminateswhether or not a preset maximum value Rmax of the number of redial callscoincides with the number of redial calls after the increment at stepST50. When it is discriminated that the maximum value Rmax of the numberof redial calls coincides with the number of redial calls after theincrement, the radio communication CPU 89 goes to step ST62. When it isdiscriminated that the maximum value Rmax of the number of redial callsis not coincident with the number of redial calls after the increment atstep ST50, the radio communication CPU 89 goes to step ST52.

At step ST52, the radio communication CPU 89 starts its built-in timer.

At the next step ST53, the radio communication CPU 89 repeatsdiscrimination as to whether the timer started at step ST52 has reacheda predetermined expiration time or not. When it is discriminated thatthe timer has reached the expiration time, the radio communication CPU89 returns to step ST46 of FIG. 28 and executes the processing of stepST46 and the subsequent steps again. That is, when the dial-up access tothe Internet service provider cannot be established before theexpiration of the timer, the radio communication CPU 89 repeats theprocessing of step ST46 and the subsequent steps after the expiration ofthe timer.

At step ST54, which is reached by discriminating at step ST49 that theportable telephone 2 completed the dial-up access to the Internetservice provider, the radio communication CPU 89 starts the PPP storedin the ROM 88.

At the next step ST55, the radio communication CPU 89 starts the PPPstored in the ROM 88, then generates a control packet including theoriginating request and telephone number S2 with reference to thetelephone number of the Internet service provider, and transmits theoriginating request and telephone number to the portable telephone 2 viathe short distance radio communication network 30. Then, the radiocommunication CPU 89 discriminates whether the control packet to theeffect that the connection is completed is inputted from the portabletelephone 2 or not and whether the link based on the PPP is establishedor not. When a control packet indicating that the link based on the PPPbetween the portable telephone 2 and the Internet service providercannot be established is inputted from the portable telephone 2, theradio communication CPU 89 goes to step ST62. When it is discriminatedthat the link based on the PPP between the portable telephone 2 and theInternet service provider is established, the radio communication CPU 89goes to step ST56.

At step ST56, the radio communication CPU 89 starts the TCP/IP stored inthe ROM 88 as the network layer protocol. Thus, the radio communicationCPU 89 makes connection with the server included in the publiccommunication network 40 and establishes the link.

At the next step ST57, the radio communication CPU 89 starts anelectronic mail application protocol such as POP3 (post office protocol3), SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol), or IMAP (Internet messageaccess protocol).

At the next step ST58, the radio communication CPU 89 transmits the userdata stored in the flash memory 111 to the server via the portabletelephone 2 and the Internet service provider, in conformity with thenetwork layer protocol and the application protocol started at stepsST56 and ST57.

At the next step ST59, the radio communication CPU 89 discriminateswhether the user data transmitted at step ST58 has been transmitted tothe server and has ended normally or not. When it is discriminated thatthe user data has ended normally, the radio communication CPU 89 goes tostep ST60. When it is discriminated that the user data has not endednormally, the radio communication CPU 89 goes to step ST62.

At step ST60, in response to the normal ending of the user data at stepST59, the radio communication CPU 89 controls the memory controller 112so as to delete the user data stored in the flash memory 111.

At step ST61, the radio communication CPU 89 controls the memorycontroller 112 so as to store a normal ending flag into a memory spaceof the flash memory 111 deleted at step ST60, and then ends theprocessing.

At step ST62, that is, in the case where it is discriminated at stepST51 that the maximum value Rmax of the number of redial calls iscoincident with the number of redial calls after the increment, or inthe case where the link based on the PPP between the portable telephone2 and the Internet service provider is not established, or in the casewhere it is discriminated at step ST59 that the user data has not endednormally, the radio communication CPU 89 stores into the flash memory111 an abnormal ending flag indicating that the user data to betransmitted to the server cannot be transmitted to the server, and thenends the processing.

In the above description of the present invention, the radiocommunication device 3 or the radio communication device with a memoryfunction 200 is loaded in the host equipment 4, thustransmitting/receiving user data between the host equipment 4 and thepublic communication network 40. However, the radio communication device3 or the radio communication device with a memory function 200 may alsobe loaded in the portable telephone 2.

Such a wireless LAN system 1 is constituted by the portable telephone 2having mounted thereon a protocol stack 15 including a W-CDMA layer anda HOST I/F layer as the upper layer of the W-CDMA layer, the radiocommunication device 3 having the above-described protocol stack 12mounted thereon, and the host equipment 4 having mounted thereon aprotocol stack 16 including a PHY layer, a MAC layer, an LLC layer, andan application layer as the upper layer for transmitting/receiving acontrol packet via the short distance radio communication network 30, asshown in FIG. 30. In such a wireless LAN system 1, the portabletelephone 2 and the radio communication device 3 transmit/receive acontrol packet to/from each other via the HOST I/F, and the radiocommunication device 3 and the host equipment 4 transmit a controlpacket to each other via the short distance radio communication network30, thus connecting the host equipment 4 with the public communicationnetwork 40.

In the wireless LAN system 1, since the radio communication device 3 orthe radio communication device with a memory function 200 is provided inthe portable telephone 2, similarly to the wireless LAN system 1 shownin FIGS. 1, 2 and 21, the host equipment 4 can be connected with theInternet service provider by causing the radio communication CPU 89 tostart the PPP and using the individual information and the networksetting information, and the network setting or the like for each hostequipment 4 to connect to the public communication network 40 can besimplified. Also, it is not necessary to provide the host equipment 4with a built-in function to construct the wireless LAN system 1 and abuilt-in function to connect to the public communication network 40, andthe cost of the host equipment 4 can be reduced.

In the above description of the wireless LAN system 1, the password forusing the individual information is stored in the individual informationstorage section 85. However, the password may also be stored in the hostequipment 4 in order to keep security.

In such a wireless LAN system 1, when connecting the host equipment 4with the public communication network 40 via the radio communicationdevice 3 or the radio communication device with a memory function 200,first, a control packet containing the password is transmitted from thehost equipment 4 to the radio communication CPU 89 of the radiocommunication device 3 or the radio communication device with a memoryfunction 200. Then, in response to the password inputted from the hostequipment 4, the radio communication CPU 89 discriminates whether theindividual information stored in the individual information storagesection 85 is usable or not. When it is discriminated that theindividual information is usable, the radio communication CPU 89 startsconnection with the public communication network 40 by using theindividual information.

In the wireless LAN system 1, by enabling the use of the individualinformation only when the password stored in the host equipment 4 ispermitted, the security of the individual information and the networksetting information stored in the radio communication device 3 or theradio communication device with a memory function 200 can be secured.

In the above-described embodiment, a PDA, a digital camera, a mailterminal, an EMD terminal and the like are used as examples of the hostequipment 4. However, it is a matter of course that other types of hostequipments 4 are also applicable. By connecting the radio communicationdevice 3 of the present invention to all kinds of electronic equipment,for example, a portable telephone or a game machine, and then carryingout the above-described processing, services based on the communicationwith the public communication network 40 can be provided via the shortdistance radio communication network 30 and a gateway.

With respect to the radio communication device 3 and the radiocommunication device with a memory function 200 in the above-describedembodiment, the present invention can be applied on the basis of thephysical specification and the data communication specification ofvarious types of flash memory cards. Specifically, according to thepresent invention, a chip or the like for the Bluetooth system forcarrying out the above-described processing can be mounted on the basisof the physical specification and the data communication specificationof flash memories such as a compact flash (with a longitudinal dimensionof 361 mm, a lateral dimension of 42 μm and a thickness of 3.3 mm)proposed by Sun Disk of the United States, a smart medium (with alongitudinal dimension of 45 in, a lateral dimension of 37 in and athickness of 0.76 mm) (official name: Solid State Floppy Disk Card)proposed by Toshiba, a multimedia card (with a longitudinal dimension of32 mm, a lateral dimension of 24 mm and a thickness of 1.4 mm)standardized by a group called Multi Media Card Association, and an SDmemory card (with a longitudinal dimension of 32 μm, a lateral dimensionof 24 mm and a thickness of 2.1 mm) developed by Matsushita Electric,Sun Disk of the United States, and Toshiba.

Moreover, in the above-described embodiment, radio waves of a 2.4-GHzband are transmitted/received within the short distance radiocommunication network 30, thus connecting the host equipment 4 with thepublic communication network 40. However, as a matter of course, thepresent invention can be applied to the case where the host equipment 4is connected with the public communication network 40 in a home networkusing radio waves of a 5-GHz band, as proposed in the IEEE (Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

In the communication device according to the present invention, aconnection relation with a communication network is set by usingcommunication setting information stored in storage means, andtransmission/reception of data between a host equipment and an equipmentincluded in the communication network can be controlled. Therefore, itis not necessary to carry out communication setting for connecting tothe Internet or the like for each host equipment constituting a shortdistance radio communication network, and transmission/reception of databetween the host equipment and the communication network can besimplified.

In the communication method according to the present invention, aconnection relation between a communication device and a communicationnetwork via a short distance radio communication network is set by usingcommunication setting information stored within the communicationdevice, and transmission/reception of data is carried out between thecommunication device and the communication network. Also, wiredsupply/reception of data is carried out between a host equipment and thecommunication device, and transmission/reception of data is carried outbetween the host equipment and the communication network. Therefore, itis not necessary to carry out communication setting for connecting tothe Internet or the like for each host equipment constituting the shortdistance radio communication network, and transmission/reception of databetween the host equipment and the communication network can besimplified.

Moreover, in the communication device according to the presentinvention, wires communication means, short distance radio communicationmeans, storage means, and communication control means are housed in asingle casing. The wired communication means is arranged on one side ofthe communication control means, and the short distance radiocommunication means is arranged on the other side of the communicationcontrol means. Therefore, simply by loading the communication deviceinto a host equipment, wired supply/reception of data to/from the hostequipment is carried out and transmission/reception of data can becarried out between the host equipment and the communication network.Thus, with this communication device, it is not necessary to carry outcommunication setting for connecting to the Internet or the like foreach host equipment, and transmission/reception of data between the hostequipment and the communication network can be simplified.

Also, in the communication device according to the present invention,wired communication means, short distance radio communication means,storage means, and communication control means are housed in a casinghaving such an outer dimension that at least a part thereof can beattached to/detached from a recessed connecting section provided on ahost equipment. Therefore, simply by loading the communication deviceinto the host equipment, wired supply/reception of data to/from the hostequipment is carried out and transmission/reception of data can becarried out between the host equipment and the communication network.Thus, with this communication device, it is not necessary to carry outcommunication setting for connecting to the Internet or the like foreach host equipment, and transmission/reception of data between the hostequipment and the communication network can be simplified.

Furthermore, in the communication terminal device according to thepresent invention, connection with a communication network isestablished via a public communication network by using communicationsetting information, and transmission/reception of data is carried outbetween another equipment and the communication network by using theconnection relation with the communication network set by communicationconnection setting means. Therefore, it is not necessary to carry outcommunication setting for connecting to the Internet or the like foreach host equipment constituting a short distance radio communicationnetwork, and transmission/reception of data between the host equipmentand the communication network can be simplified.

1. A communication device comprising: wired communication means forproviding/receiving data via physical connection means to/from a mountedhost equipment; short distance radio communication means fortransmitting/receiving data to/from an external communication networkvia a short distance radio communication network; storage means in whichcommunication setting information as information related to thecommunication network, and at least protocols of an upper protocol layerand protocols of a lower protocol layer are stored; and communicationcontrol means for setting a connection relation with the communicationnetwork via the short distance radio communication network using theprotocols of the lower protocol layer based upon the communicationsetting information stored in the storage means, and controllingtransmission/reception of data between the communication network and thehost equipment using at least one protocol of the upper protocol layer,wherein the lower protocol layer includes protocols for communication inthe short distance radio communication network; and the upper protocollayer includes at least one protocol of point to point (PPP), Internetprotocol (IP), and transport control protocol (TCP) for communicationwith the external communication network.
 2. The communication device asclaimed in claim 1, wherein individual information is stored in thestorage means as information related to a user operating the hostequipment, and wherein the communication control means sets theconnection between the host equipment and the communication network byusing the communication setting information and the individualinformation stored in the storage means.
 3. The communication device asclaimed in claim 1, further comprising discrimination means fordiscriminating whether to set the connection between the host equipmentand the communication network by using at least one protocol of PPP(point to point protocol), IP (Internet protocol), and TCP (transportcontrol protocol) stored in the host equipment and carry outtransmission/reception of data between the host equipment and thecommunication network, or to set the connection between the hostequipment and the communication network by using at least one protocolstored in the storage means and carry out transmission/reception of databetween the host equipment and the communication network, wherein inaccordance with a result of discrimination that the connection betweenthe host equipment and the communication network is set by using atleast one protocol stored in the storage means and thattransmission/reception of data is carried out between the host equipmentand the communication network, the communication control means sets theconnection between the host equipment and the communication network byusing at least one protocol stored in the storage means and controlstransmission/reception of data between the host equipment and thecommunication network.
 4. The communication device as claimed in claim2, wherein the communication control means discriminates whether theindividual information stored in the storage means is usable by usingpassword information inputted from the host equipment, and sets theconnection between the host equipment and the communication network on abasis of a result of discrimination.
 5. The communication device asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the storage means temporarily stores datainputted from the host equipment via the wired communication means, andwherein the communication control means carries out control so as totransmit/receive the data temporarily stored in the storage meansto/from the communication network.
 6. The communication device asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the communication control means sets aconnection relation between a public communication network and the hostequipment and controls transmission/reception of data between the hostequipment and the public communication network.
 7. A communicationmethod for a communication device having a wired communication sectionfor supplying/receiving data to/from a host equipment via physicalcontact means and a short distance radio communication section fortransmitting/receiving data to/from an external communication networkvia a short distance radio communication network, the method comprisingthe steps of: storing communication setting information as informationrelated to the communication network, protocols of an upper protocollayer, and protocols of a lower protocol layer in the communicationdevice; using protocols of the lower protocol layer to set a connectionrelation between the radio communication section and the communicationnetwork via the short distance radio communication network based uponthe communication setting information stored in the communication deviceas information related to a communication network outside the shortdistance radio communication network; and carrying outtransmission/reception of data between the communication device and thecommunication network by using the connection relation between thecommunication device and the communication network, and carrying outsupply/reception of data between the host equipment and thecommunication device using at least one protocol of the upper protocollayer to control transmission/reception of data between the hostequipment and the communication network, wherein the lower protocollayer includes protocols for communication in the short distance radiocommunication network; and the upper protocol layer includes at leastone protocol of point to point (PPP), Internet protocol (IP), andtransport control protocol (TCP) for communication with the externalcommunication network.
 8. The communication method as claimed in claim7, wherein a connection relation between the host equipment and thecommunication network is set by using individual information stored inthe communication device, wherein The individual information isinformation related to a user operating the host equipment.
 9. Thecommunication method as claimed in claim 7, wherein it is discriminatedwhether to set the connection relation between the host equipment andthe communication network by using at least one protocol of PPP (pointto point protocol), IP (Internet protocol), and TCP (transport controlprotocol) stored in the host equipment and carry outtransmission/reception of data between the host equipment and thecommunication network, or to set the connection relation between thehost equipment and the communication network by using at least oneprotocol stored in the communication device and carry outtransmission/reception of data between the host equipment and thecommunication network, and wherein in accordance with a result ofdiscrimination that the connection relation between the host equipmentand the communication network is set by using at least one protocolstored in the communication device and that transmission/reception ofdata is carried out between the host equipment and the communicationnetwork, the connection relation between the host equipment and thecommunication network is set by using at least one protocol stored inthe communication device and transmission/reception of data is carriedout between the host equipment and the communication network.
 10. Thecommunication method as claimed in claim 8, wherein it is discriminatedwhether the individual information is usable by using passwordinformation inputted from the host equipment to the communicationdevice, and wherein the connection relation between the communicationdevice and the communication network is set on a basis of a result ofdiscrimination.
 11. The communication method as claimed in claim 7,wherein data inputted from the host equipment to the communicationdevice is stored, and wherein transmission/reception of the stored datais carried out between the communication device and the communicationnetwork.
 12. The communication method as claimed in claim 7, wherein aconnection relation between a public communication network and thecommunication device is set, and wherein transmission/reception of datais carried out between the public communication network and the hostequipment.
 13. A communication device comprising: wired communicationmeans for providing/receiving data via physical contact means to/from amounted host equipment; short distance radio communication means forproviding/receiving data to/from an external communication network via ashort distance radio communication network; storage means in whichcommunication setting information as information related to thecommunication network and at least protocols of an upper protocol layerand protocols of a lower protocol layer are stored; and communicationcontrol means for setting a connection relation with the communicationnetwork via the short distance radio communication network usingprotocols of the lower protocol layer based upon the communicationsetting information stored in the storage means, and controllingtransmission/reception of data between the communication network and thehost equipment using at least one protocol of the upper protocol layer,wherein the wired communication means, the short distance radiocommunication means, the storage means, and the communication controlmeans are housed in a single casing; the wired communication means isarranged on one side of the communication control means, and the shortdistance radio communication means is arranged on the other side of thecommunication control means the lower protocol layer includes protocolsfor communication in the short distance radio communication network; andthe upper protocol layer includes at least one protocol of point topoint (PPP), Internet protocol (IP), and transport control protocol(TCP) for communication with the external communication network.
 14. Thecommunication device as claimed in claim 13, wherein the casing issubstantially rectangular, having a height greater than a width, and athickness smaller than the width, and wherein the short distance radiocommunication means is arranged on a first end of the casing, and thewired communication means is arranged on a second end of the casing. 15.The communication device as claimed in claim 14, wherein a thickness ofthe casing is greater on the second end than on the first end.
 16. Acommunication device comprising, in a casing constituted to have apredetermined outer dimension that allows free attachment/detachment ofat least a part thereof to/from a recessed connection part provided in amounted host equipment: wired communication means forproviding/receiving data via physical contact means to/from the hostequipment; short distance radio communication means forproviding/receiving data to/from an external communication network via ashort distance radio communication network; storage means in whichcommunication setting information as information related to thecommunication network, and at least protocols of an upper protocol layerand protocols of a lower protocol layer are stored; and communicationcontrol means for setting a connection relation with the communicationnetwork via the short distance radio communication network using theprotocols of the lower protocol layer based upon the communicationsetting information stored in the storage means, and controllingtransmission/reception of data between the communication network and thehost equipment using at least one protocol of the upper protocol layer,wherein the lower protocol layer includes protocols for communication inthe short distance radio communication network; and the upper protocollayer includes at least one protocol of point to point (PPP), Internetprotocol (IP), and transport control protocol (TCP) for communicationwith the external communication network.
 17. The communication device asclaimed in claim 16, wherein the casing is substantially rectangular,having a height greater than a width, and a thickness smaller than thewidth, and wherein the short distance radio communication means isarranged on a first end of the casing, and the wired communication meansis arranged on a second end of the casing.
 18. The communication deviceas claimed in claim 17, wherein the casing is connected to the recessedconnection part of the host equipment, with the other end exposedoutside from the host equipment.
 19. The communication device as claimedin claim 17, wherein the short distance radio communication meansincludes a chip antenna shaped in a thin, substantially rectangular formand carries out transmission/reception of data to/from the shortdistance radio communication network via the chip antenna.
 20. Thecommunication device as claimed in claim 19, wherein the chip antenna ishoused in the second end of the casing having a protrusion with itsthickness greater at the second end than the first end.
 21. Acommunication terminal device comprising: public communicationconnection means operated by a user so as to be connected to a publiccommunication network for providing/receiving data; short distance radiocommunication means for transmitting/receiving data to/from an equipmentincluded in a short distance radio communication network via the shortdistance radio communication network; communication setting informationstorage means in which communication setting information is stored asinformation related to an external communication network to be connectedvia the public communication network along with protocols of an upperprotocol layer and protocols of a lower protocol layer; communicationconnection setting means for setting connection with the communicationnetwork via the public communication network by using protocols of thelower protocol layer based upon the communication setting informationstored in the communication setting information storage means; andcontrol means for controlling transmission/reception of data between theequipment and the communication network by using the connection with thecommunication network set by the communication connection setting meansand by using at least one protocol of the upper protocol layer, whereinthe lower protocol layer includes protocols for communication in theshort distance radio communication network; and the upper protocol layerincludes at least one protocol of point to point (PPP), Internetprotocol (IP), and transport control protocol (TCP) for communicationwith the external communication network.
 22. The communication terminaldevice as claimed in claim 21, further comprising individual informationstorage means in which individual information is stored as informationrelated to the user, wherein the communication connection setting meanssets the connection between the short distance radio communication meansand the communication network by using the communication settinginformation stored in the communication setting information storagemeans and the individual information stored in the individualinformation storage means.
 23. The communication terminal device asclaimed in claim 21, further comprising discrimination means fordiscriminating whether to set the connection between the short distanceradio communication means and the communication network by using atleast one protocol of PPP (point to point protocol), IP (Internetprotocol), and TCP (transport control protocol) stored in the equipmentand carry out transmission/reception of data between the equipment andthe communication network, or to set connection between the shortdistance radio communication means and the communication network byusing at least one protocol stored in the communication settinginformation storage means and carry out transmission/reception of databetween the equipment and the communication network, wherein inaccordance with a result of discrimination that the connection betweenthe short distance radio communication means and the communicationnetwork is set by using at least one protocol stored in thecommunication setting information storage means and thattransmission/reception of data is carried out between the equipment andthe communication network, the communication connection setting meanssets the connection between the short distance radio communication meansand the communication network by using at least one protocol stored inthe communication setting information storage means, and the controlmeans controls transmission/reception of data between the equipment andthe communication network by using at least one protocol stored in thecommunication setting information storage means.
 24. The communicationterminal device as claimed in claim 22, further comprising passwordprocessing means for discriminating whether the individual informationstored in the individual information storage means is usable by using apassword inputted from the equipment, wherein the communicationconnection setting means sets the connection with the communicationnetwork via the public communication network on a basis of a result ofdiscrimination from the password processing means.
 25. The communicationterminal device as claimed in claim 21, further comprising data storagemeans for storing data inputted from equipment via the short distanceradio communication means, wherein the control means controlstransmission/reception of the data stored in the data storage meansto/from the communication network.
 26. The communication terminal deviceas claimed in claim 25, wherein the control means controls processing toset the connection again, in response to discrimination that thecommunication connection setting means cannot establish setting ofconnection with the communication network, and transmits/receives thedata stored in the data storage means to/from the communication network.